Just months ago, the PGA Tour left the nation’s capital, the combination of a tournament that lost its title sponsor and a course, the TPC at Avenel, that none of the top professionals wanted to play. Today, golf is back along the Potomac. First, a date came open when The International closed shop. Then, the Tiger Woods Foundation agreed Tuesday to back a return to D.C.

Now, venerable Congressional Country Club, site of the 1997 U.S. Open, wants back in. Here’s guessing it won’t take long before some big-money sponsor comes knocking as well, given the almost assured presence of the world’s No. 1 player in future years.

Meanwhile, the folks at Castle Pines once again are left looking like the golfer who saw Tuesday’s delightful weather and immediately booked a tee time for Wednesday morning.

“I guess that’s waking up on the right side of the bed; they’re certainly pretty fortunate,” International executive director Larry Thiel said of the event, which will be played July 5-8.

Thiel and International founder Jack Vickers were given the news Tuesday afternoon by PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem. Thiel said the commissioner regarded the confluence of events as “an opportunity they couldn’t walk away from.”

That Denver was left holding the bag, and the irony of the area losing a tournament in large part because it couldn’t attract Woods only to see it replaced by an event that the world’s top-ranked player will certainly play in future seasons, may have been vexing to International officials. Thiel, however, chose to take the high road.

“No, we can’t be mad about this,” he said. “We made our decision; being angry wouldn’t be appropriate. Actually, I would have felt a lot worse if we had left the schedule and the tour wasn’t able to fill the date. That would have caused a lot of hard feelings with the players.”

Also out in the cold

Chances are news of Woods and the D.C. event didn’t go over very well in Palm Beach, Fla., either. Today is the first day of the Honda Classic, a tournament that hasn’t been able to attract Woods since his days an amateur.

Recently considered something of a nomadic event – it was contested on three courses over the past five years – the Honda made a number of moves this year to lend some stability and, tournament officials hoped, land Woods.

First, the event has moved to PGA National, a well-received course that has hosted the PGA Championship as well as Ryder Cup matches. The Honda also enlisted Barbara Nicklaus, the wife of all-time great Jack, to serve as the chair for a children’s healthcare group that’s become the tournament’s primary charity beneficiary. However, with D.C. in the picture – and on Woods’ schedule – the Honda likely won’t have enough gas to pull him in.

“You politely ask him to try to support your cause,” Honda tournament director Ken Kennerly said this season when asked about the process of bagging Tiger, who is building a home in the area. “Barbara is building a children’s hospital near his future home and he’s going to be a father. It would be great if he played us. We hope he considers it.”

If you can’t beat him …

The most fascinating sight of last week’s Match Play championship may not have been on the course, but rather the driving range, where before the opening round, Butch Harmon, Woods’ former coach, was seen working with Phil Mickelson.

While short-game guru Dave Pelz appears to be firmly entrenched in Mickelson’s camp, there has been talk that the left-hander has grown disenchanted with Rick Smith, who previously coached Mickelson’s long game. Smith wasn’t seen in Tucson last week. When asked if his session with Harmon was more than a casual chat, Mickelson looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“I just don’t think I’m going to go there,” Mickelson said. “I’m only going to say that I’ve known Butch for a long time and I consider him a good friend.”

Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson had butterflies before Sunday's game against the Detroit Red Wings. It wasn't because of the big-name opponent, but rather his return from a 13-game injury absence and being stoked to rejoin a team in a playoff push and looking for its third postseason appearance in 10 years.